The best CarPlay upgrades to try in the iOS 27 public beta

The iOS 27 public beta is now available, and it includes several CarPlay changes worth checking out. Here’s what you should try after updating.

Siri AI is the flagship feature of iOS 27, and it extends to CarPlay. In fact, I’ve found it to be especially useful via CarPlay. Siri AI can answer questions around your personal context, world knowledge, and much more in iOS 27.

For example, you can ask Siri to find a specific address or location in your email or text messages, then begin routing to that location, all while using just your voice.

Robust, hands-free control is important in the car, and iOS 27 finally gives Siri the power that it deserves in CarPlay.

Now Playing changes

CarPlay in iOS 27 offers a persistent “Now Playing” MiniPlayer throughout audio apps. This appears in the upper-right corner of the interface and shows playback controls and album artwork.

The Now Playing interface in CarPlay has also been updated to include an audio scrubber at long last. You can drag the scrubber to easily skip to different parts of a song or podcast without using steering wheel controls or reaching for your iPhone.

New wallpapers

CarPlay isn’t known for its robust collection of wallpapers, and Apple doesn’t let you use your own photos for some reason.

In iOS 27, Apple has at least added a collection of new wallpapers that you can choose from. They are similar to the stock iOS 27 wallpapers available on iPhone.

Stability improvements

iOS 27 focuses a lot on platform improvements to performance and reliability, and that applies to CarPlay too. Apple says iOS 27 addresses two key things in CarPlay:

So if you’ve ever had problems with those two things in CarPlay, it’s possible that iOS 27 makes the experience much better.

Coming soon(ish): Video app support

Finally, Apple says that developers can now make dedicated video apps for CarPlay in iOS 27. The feature, however, requires support from automakers. This means it might be a while before you can actually use any video apps with CarPlay in your vehicle.

While the dream for many people is still CarPlay Ultra, it’s really nice to see Apple make meaningful improvements to the version of CarPlay already available in millions of cars on the road today.

Are you running the iOS 27 public beta? What CarPlay changes have you noticed? Let us know down in the comments.

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